SHALL WE DANCE

The ever-popular Shall We Dance Ballroom and Latin American showcase – now in its 19th year – is in the Playhouse Opera for a short season from September 17. This glorious annual dance extravaganza features 100 of the region’s most exciting dancers as well as top award-winning industry professionals.

This year for the first time ever, Shall We Dance boasts a top international dance couple from London: Danny Stowell and Kate Moore. They have numerous awards to their name - they are ranked second in the ten dance championships internationally; third amateur Latin couple in the UK; UK closed youth ballroom and Latin American championships and UK ten dance championships. They have also been the youth ten dance representatives for the world European championships.

The other featured soloist couple hails from Cape Town and stole the show last year: Megan Lottering and Devon Snell are this year’s 2010 SA ballroom champs.

Shall We Dance – which this year falls into the city’s Celebrate Durban season - once more promises to delight audiences with its carefully-chosen eclectic mix of quality dance – all with an underlying ballroom and Latin American theme. Featured dances include Ballroom and Latin American dancing; hip-hop; modern; ballet; tap; Spanish, and American smooth.

Started in 1991, Shall We Dance is probably the longest annual production in Durban. It is presented by the Playhouse Company in association with the South African Dance Teachers’ Association and directed by tireless dance activists, Neville Letard and Caryl Cuzens.

The MC is once again Damon Beard and soloist is velvet-voiced singer Jaziel Vaugh’hann – known to many as “Jaz”. Jaz will sing two songs from his highly-acclaimed recently-launched first album, Heaven Only Knows: Angel and I Left My Heart in San Francisco There will be dancers from the Young Dancers Project from the Minette de Klerk Academy; Dance Basics; the Razmatazz Dancers; Mark Wilson Dance Academy; Neville Letard Dance School and Static.

An eclectic range of music will be used in the show – everything from Beyonce’s If I were a boy; to Chris Brown’s I Can Transform Ya; from the theme from The Pink Panther to Black Eyed Peas’ And Tonight’s Going to be a Good Night; from Shakira / Freshly Ground’s Waka Waka to Phantom of the Opera; from Sunset Boulevard to Nina Simone’s My Baby Just Cares for Me.

Shall We Dance runs in the Playhouse Opera from September 17 to 25, with seats available downstairs and in the loge only. Tickets R100 (R60 pensioners and scholars). Tickets R60 throughout for the September 24 Heritage Day matinee at 15h00 (no concessions). Book at Computicket.